Hello world. My 79 came down with a mysterious case of the won't starts.
I'm no electrician but i think there is a short. Battery is full charged, press the start button and the oil and neutral light goes out. after that i can turn the key to run and won't get any sign of power anywhere except for the running lights on my trunk. All i can hear is the tick tick of something electrical. I managed to start the bike once while it was on a battery charger which was long enough to get it on the trailer.
i'm at a loss on whether to start at the starter or the ignition switch.
ps. i'm probably the only 24 year old on the planet who owns an old wing.

Na...I had a wing at a young age too....
Unplug the 4 wire plug on the starter solenoid....Open the trap door....You will find a dog bone fuse....It's a inch long jumper between 2 screws...This is the main 30 amp fuse...
They will hairline crack and intermittently kill the power.....
There usually is a spare in the lid....clean and replace it.
These bikes are prone to electrical problem due to corrosion at the plugs,so pay close attention to them.
The most noticeable problem is the 3 yellow wires to the left of the battery.We usually discard the plug and hard solder them together.

By "pinged out", what exactly does that mean? If the battery charger maxes out the needle almost off of the dial, which is what I think you meant, that's not good. It can mean that there is an internal issue that won't allow starting.

A lot of people don't know that you can have a charged battery which would allow accessories to operate and have it not be able to start a vehicle, motorcycle or car. One common condition is called a "load short". This is where one or more of the lead plates have shifted and broken contact with the others usually due to vibration which is inevitable, even in a Gold Wing or a Rolls Royce. When you check the charge condition either electronically or by specific gravity, you would find a fully charged battery and assume all is well. But, the proof of the pudding would be doing a load test. There, it would fail miserably.

Remember that accessories draw current at a much slower rate than a starter does. Did you ever wonder why your house lights dim for a split second when the blower motor kicks on in your furnace or whole house a/c unit? It takes a significant surge of power to get an electric motor going from a complete stop, which is basically what a starter is plus it needs a bit more on top of that to engage the Bendix drive so it can spin the flywheel. A battery has to be up to task to be able to do this.